Humboldt State University’s bilingual newspaper El Lenador published their monthly issue Wednesday October 4th, 2017. Their cover story was about four HSU students who have been killed in the last 40 years, but centered mainly around the unsolved murders of two HSU students.

19-year old David Josiah Lawson was stabbed to death at an off campus party in April and 30-year old Corey Clark was shot in an Eureka apartment in 2001. Both were Black male students and their murderers have yet to be brought to justice.

I have a lot of respect for Hector, the journalism student who penned the piece because I personally know the due diligence he did in digging up the old newspaper archives of Clark’s murder as well as contacting Clark’s friends that he could find. In addition, this newspaper was created through a grant Latinx journalism students at HSU applied for, seeing the need for not only a bilingual paper but something that was more inclusive of their stories and experiences. HSU’s campus newspaper has always had a void of diversity so El Lenador is needed and appreciated.

I first found out about Clark’s murder through a friend of Clark’s who still lives in the area. She sent me a message via my website and I met with her a few times. I was astonished to know that police have been unsuccessful in solving student murders in the past. It felt like history was repeating itself.

In Clark’s murder, students and Clark’s friends in the community, were very instrumental in providing the police with leads. The streets were talking, for lack of a better term. So much so, that the Eureka Police Department brought in a woman for questioning but released her. She went missing soon after and is still listed in the national missing persons database.

When you look Clark’s name up online, the only thing that comes up is a pdf version of HSU’s Multi-Cultural Center’s magazine The Cultural Times from 2001. There was a page dedicated to Clark with messages from students who knew him. I believe the timing of his murder in 2001, is why local newspaper coverage is not archived online. Anything you want to see on Clark’s murder you have to go to the library and view their microfilm archives.

About slausongirl

Slauson Girl is a South Central native who has a love for journalism, history and all things Hip-Hop--currently living in Humboldt County. She holds a B.A in Critical Race & Gender Theory & a Minor in Journalism.